It make come as a shock to some of you, but I am a comic book geek. I may not be able to win battles and arguments about every little detail that might come up, but I know my way around the block.
Whenever I start talking about a comic book, people are usually curious, and I can't blame them. Between now and 2021, there are going to be close to 20 films based on comic books. What I love about the films is that ever since X-men's first film in 2000 made a splash, followed up by the first Sam Raimi Spider-Man film, there have been more fans that have come into the comic book universe, and that is awesome. Since then, there have been films based off of comic books, and they aren't going to be stopping with making them because of the money made. Last year (2014) Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy were two of the top grossing films around the world. Guardians did better, but man, Winter Soldier was great.
Anywho, with this big boom in people being interested in comic books, they can feel overwhelmed due to how many different comic books there are when they a walk into a store, or browse the internet and buy digital comics. (By the way, digitals are my favorites because they don't wear out and you don't have to find shelf space if you are a big collector).
It can be hard, and honestly, comic books are a lot like soap operas. Once you start one, it only takes a couple of episodes, or in this case comic books, to get caught up and understand what is going on. However comic books are almost 90 years old, maybe longer, and heroes like Superman and Batman date way back into the 30s. So where do you start? Here are a few tips on how to start getting into comics.
1. If you saw a comic book film and loved it, you should think about that character. There are exceptions, though. Green Lantern is a wonderful comic book series, and the movie was pretty lousy at best. The ideas were kind of right, but the story was bad and the actors could have been a lot better. This was also coming from the director who directed Daniel Craig's first James Bond outing, Casino Royale. It had the elements, but they weren't in line. Anyway, that's that about Green Lantern.
2. Let's say you hear about your friends talking about comic books or whatever. Hang out, remain silent, and just listen to what they say.
3. When I recognize a hero that I don't have much knowledge of, Wikipedia.org is your friend when it comes to comics. They have all of the information on back stories and catch you up to what is going on. They may contain spoiler alerts, but are usually noted, so you can stop reading there. For example, if you don't know anything about Green Lantern, do a Wikipedia search on him. It can also be hard because not just Green Lantern, but other big heroes get changed up every now and again. The Flash was Barry Allen, but there are other people who come into play and become a new Flash. There is a lot of history behind bigger names.
4. Go to the websites for DC and Marvel and browse and see if there is anything you like. The store owners or workers are usually friendly and will tell you about them.
5. The great thing about comics is that not all of them stick to superheroes. Some deal with horror topics, like The Walking Dead, or whatever. I love my superheroes, don't get me wrong, but there are some awesome comics out there that don't deal with superheroes. DC and Marvel are the two biggest comics competitors on the market, but my personal favorite comics come from Image. Sometimes they have a superhero, but most don't. However, when you move away from Marvel and DC the comics can get graphic. Not horrible graphic, but they swear stronger than the other two companies, but they are beautifully written and drawn. I have been reading one lately called Day Tripper, and it's about a guy who is writing an obituary for the character in the story, then at the end of every book, there is an obituary of the writer who wrote the obituary of the character in the story. It's a ten issue story.
Also, I do have a gripe that I want to get out right here. Internet fanboys who think they are real fans because they only care about one particular character doing things that only they would want them to do is lame. The biggest thing lately is that people complain about origin story troupes. Troupes are a simple way of saying, everyone does it and shouldn't anymore because it's already been done.
My problem with this is, for example....Who knew who The Guardians of the Galaxy even existed besides fanboys? Marvel has even come out and said, that they were nervous to do a comic book/sci-fi story that would take a lot of money to produce and actually do it, but they went for it, and the gamble paid out. My problem with the whole Origin Story is the fact that even though all of these nerdy fanboys that know the origins of the heroes make up about ten percent of the movie going public. I took a copy of Guardians of the Galaxy to my sister's house and watched it, and she had no idea that it was even a Marvel movie. My sister goes to the movies a lot and knows Marvel movies, and she didn't know.
So, you have ten percent of these dumb fanboys with tunnel vision thinking how everything is supposed to go, and when it doesn't come out exactly how they want, they get upset. I feel that the general movie going public should see origin stories because they make up the film. If you did Guardians, but they were already together getting along and fighting side by side with each other, you would want to know how they came to be partners and friends. This summer we have Ant-Man coming out. I know a little about him, but not much. I am sure the general movie going public is going to want to know how he turns into Ant-Man. If fanboys are upset about it, Hollywood isn't forcing them to buy a ticket to go see it. If you don't like choices made, do participate and go back to watching other movies you have seen a million times and let the rest of us be.
One more thing. Online or at comic book stores, they have what they called TPBs or Trade Paper Backs. What those are are books that collect between five and seven issues at a time and put them into one book. Comics are hard to wait for every month if you are really into the story, and TPBs are great for not having to sit around waiting and when it comes out, you get five to seven issues at a time. So, those are great.
I lied, ha ha ha, two more things. Usually DC or Marvel put out DVD-Roms or CD-Roms of back issues. They might be a little pricey, but you get all of the issues from the past, so that is awesome. I have roms for Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America and The Avengers...and Mad Magazine, lol.
Finally, I should have probably mentioned this about but Comic Book Resources or http://www.comicbookresources.com/ Have reviews of things before they hit shelves so that you can get a little preview of what is coming, and they have a reviews section as well. I personally hit that site every day to go to the Reviews section to see if anyone has posted anything with a good rating. The rating goes from 1 star to 5 stars, but they are cut in half sometimes. It's a neat place to check things out.
Anyway, I hope this blog helps you at all if you are trying to get into comics. It's pretty basic stuff, but it helps a lot, especially Wikipedia and Comic Book Resources,
Happy Reading!
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
My Sundance Epiphany.......
This one will be short, I promise.....
Earlier this evening, I attended two screenings at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Both films were world documentaries, one being from Romania and one being from the Ukraine. The Romanian film, "Chuck Norris Vs. Communism" examined Romania in the early 1980s, and how their government made pretty much any form television or film illegal, unless it was shown on the countries' one television channel that only broadcast government censored propaganda for two hours a day, and how a guy went to Germany, bought a VCR for the same price as a car in Romania, and would make frequent trips back and forth to acquire and smuggle in tons of VHS tapes of American and Foreign films, the most popular being American action films, where a lady who would help the government censor their programming, but go over to this other guy's house and dub and copy movies, which were secretly passed around and slowly, but surely, helped the people of Romania stand up to their corrupt government and fight back, winning and gaining their independence.
The second film, The Russian Woodpecker, was about the horrible Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster, and how it may not have been an accident at all, but an event to cover up a huge mistake made by a high ranking Russian Government official. There was a lot more to it, but it would take a long time to describe everything. Anyway, it was brilliant.
Every year when I cover Sundance, I have a lot of chances to interview celebrities or go to fancy parties and everything, which I did for the first three or four years I have covered the festival, but tonight I realized something that I hadn't really thought of.
Every year, the news or entertainment industry sends people to cover Sundance, and they always try to talk to the big celebrities that come, or do "red carpet" ceremonies and things like that. I am not saying it't dumb to do that, that's what a lot of people like about the festival, but I realized tonight, I am the opposite.
This year I turned down a few interviews and canceled one yesterday. Tonight, I watched two documentaries that show the power of film and how it can inspire people to be better. How it can inspire people to rise up against evil dictatorship and governments. How film can present information to expose the truth, or at least show and explain someone's points of view. The ideas presented to me this evening were incredible and life changing, yet I get home, and the first thing I see on the news about Sundance is celebrities walking around red carpets in Park City doing celebrity things.
Sundance kind of has a funny cliche' people talk about, like, if you want to get a film into Sundance, make it dark, depressing, and have your characters either be gay, on drugs, or gay and on drugs. It's sad, but the cliche' is real. Not that those films don't have artistic value or themes to agree or disagree with, but the celebrity aspects to the films at Sundance drive me crazy. I hate it. The premiers that the stars come out for are premiers, meaning, they are already going to come out in theaters some other time in the near future. The films worth seeing, most of the time, are the ones without the big names attached to them.
I say it every year, the documentaries at Sundance are the bread and butter of the festival. You get real people experiencing real things, and you get their point of view on the subject. They aren't always awesome, and you can tell bad, biased docs when you see them, but for the most part, they are really interesting and a lot of fun. My Sundance Epiphany this year is that I could care less about who comes to the festival and for what reasons. I go because I love film, and I want to experience, learn and discover something not only new or interesting, but see how those things, though different, relate to me as a human being and how I can use that new knowledge to make me or the world around me a better place.
Again, not that the "celebrity" films are always bad, but there is so much people don't know and skip over at Sundance for the chance to see a snooty celebrity smile and take some pictures to look good so that they can make more money. That's just the nature of the entertainment industry. I hope this inspires you to watch a lot of different kinds of genres and also to give documentaries a try. There are a ton that have debuted at Sundance over the past three years that are brand new on Netfilx. I would be happy to recommend some if you are interesting. Just let me know.
Earlier this evening, I attended two screenings at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Both films were world documentaries, one being from Romania and one being from the Ukraine. The Romanian film, "Chuck Norris Vs. Communism" examined Romania in the early 1980s, and how their government made pretty much any form television or film illegal, unless it was shown on the countries' one television channel that only broadcast government censored propaganda for two hours a day, and how a guy went to Germany, bought a VCR for the same price as a car in Romania, and would make frequent trips back and forth to acquire and smuggle in tons of VHS tapes of American and Foreign films, the most popular being American action films, where a lady who would help the government censor their programming, but go over to this other guy's house and dub and copy movies, which were secretly passed around and slowly, but surely, helped the people of Romania stand up to their corrupt government and fight back, winning and gaining their independence.
The second film, The Russian Woodpecker, was about the horrible Chernobyl Nuclear Plant disaster, and how it may not have been an accident at all, but an event to cover up a huge mistake made by a high ranking Russian Government official. There was a lot more to it, but it would take a long time to describe everything. Anyway, it was brilliant.
Every year when I cover Sundance, I have a lot of chances to interview celebrities or go to fancy parties and everything, which I did for the first three or four years I have covered the festival, but tonight I realized something that I hadn't really thought of.
Every year, the news or entertainment industry sends people to cover Sundance, and they always try to talk to the big celebrities that come, or do "red carpet" ceremonies and things like that. I am not saying it't dumb to do that, that's what a lot of people like about the festival, but I realized tonight, I am the opposite.
This year I turned down a few interviews and canceled one yesterday. Tonight, I watched two documentaries that show the power of film and how it can inspire people to be better. How it can inspire people to rise up against evil dictatorship and governments. How film can present information to expose the truth, or at least show and explain someone's points of view. The ideas presented to me this evening were incredible and life changing, yet I get home, and the first thing I see on the news about Sundance is celebrities walking around red carpets in Park City doing celebrity things.
Sundance kind of has a funny cliche' people talk about, like, if you want to get a film into Sundance, make it dark, depressing, and have your characters either be gay, on drugs, or gay and on drugs. It's sad, but the cliche' is real. Not that those films don't have artistic value or themes to agree or disagree with, but the celebrity aspects to the films at Sundance drive me crazy. I hate it. The premiers that the stars come out for are premiers, meaning, they are already going to come out in theaters some other time in the near future. The films worth seeing, most of the time, are the ones without the big names attached to them.
I say it every year, the documentaries at Sundance are the bread and butter of the festival. You get real people experiencing real things, and you get their point of view on the subject. They aren't always awesome, and you can tell bad, biased docs when you see them, but for the most part, they are really interesting and a lot of fun. My Sundance Epiphany this year is that I could care less about who comes to the festival and for what reasons. I go because I love film, and I want to experience, learn and discover something not only new or interesting, but see how those things, though different, relate to me as a human being and how I can use that new knowledge to make me or the world around me a better place.
Again, not that the "celebrity" films are always bad, but there is so much people don't know and skip over at Sundance for the chance to see a snooty celebrity smile and take some pictures to look good so that they can make more money. That's just the nature of the entertainment industry. I hope this inspires you to watch a lot of different kinds of genres and also to give documentaries a try. There are a ton that have debuted at Sundance over the past three years that are brand new on Netfilx. I would be happy to recommend some if you are interesting. Just let me know.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Why Guys Don't Like "Chick Flicks"......
After having this conversation on five separate occasions, I finally decided I would write a blog about this topic.
As a film critic, it's kind a rule of thumb to not be biased about any particular genre of film. After all, it's kind of important to review and analyze a film based on it's own merits and themes presented individually, instead of grouping the film into a broad category and writing it off as "just like all of the others".
However, a lot of films that we see fall into the "just like all of the others" a little too often, unfortunately, but as a film lover and reviewer, especially when it is kind of your job to watch films and give your honest opinions and share experiences and make recommendations, you have to watch everything like it's the first time. It gets hard sometimes, but it comes with the territory.
I was recently involved in a conversation about how this particular woman was more than happy to go with her guy friends to see movies that are "guy movies" all the time, but they aren't willing to go to "Chick Flicks" with her or her other girl friends. There is a simple explanation, and I am going to give it to you. I will also include screenshots from the films I talk about to illustrate my points, except for a certain topic that you will understand later.
To make my point, I chose two films that are well liked and talked about. One very recent, and one that has been around for a few years, but it makes the points very clear. It does, however, apply to a lot of different films, and not just these two, but it's easiest to make my points with these two films. I chose:
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy VS. The Notebook I will talk about Guardians of the Galaxy first. I used Guardians of the Galaxy to make the points because the comic book was/is pretty obscure before the film was announced and made, and even when it was announced, people thought that Marvel had lost it. So, it's a little easier to use over something like Spider-Man who has been in pop-culture for a long time.
1. It's a movie based on a comic book. Not that girls can't be interested in comic books, but it's pretty much a proven fact that more guys are into comic books than girls. However, I know a few girls that are way into comic books. So, guys are behind this already, but there are a bunch of girls out there who are too.
2. It's a sci-fi action film. While this is something guys are interested in way more often than not, the science fiction is a change of pace for girls who are used to normal films, and the action is still entertaining and easy to enjoy by both men and women. The peril the actors face is still just as dangerous and exciting and thrilling to women, so both men and women can get behind this fact and enjoy it.
3. It's a comedy. Funny is funny no matter the genre, no matter the gender. Guys and girls both find the humor a lot of fun and silly.
4. There's a hot, green alien chick who kicks a lot of butt. Maybe this is more of a fantasy for the guys, but still, a super cool, kick-butt woman character is still pretty cool for girls, even if girls not as pretty as her call her degrading names behind her back, but that happens in real life and in chick flicks as well, so yeah, the guys might get the fantasy aspect, and by fantasy, I mean.....well, we know what guys think about when they see someone they are attracted to.
5. The plot is interesting. A good plot, and this goes both ways for guys and girls in any genre, but the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy is a lot of fun and interesting to watch play out. There is some childhood emotion that is involved with Star-Lord or Peter Quill, there is a little romance between Star-Lord and Gamora, There's a great partnership between Rocket Raccoon and Groot, Drax the Destroyer has a back story about his wife and daughter being murdered, and there is a whole planet on the verge of being wiped out unless the Guardians can make it there in time and stop a pretty powerful villain. It's interesting for everyone who watches it.
Those are five reasons why Guardians of the Galaxy is technically a guy film and why men love it, but let's be honest, it was one of the highest, if not the highest grossing film of the year, and was attended by millions and millions of girls and women as well. But there is something in Guardians of the Galaxy that women get that men, well, straight men, don't get.
That's right, a shirtless Chris Pratt with a nice body shape and great abs. Honestly, I am a little jealous, but not to the point of calling him a slut and demeaning him on Facebook, that's more of a girl thing....Just saying.....
So, really, what did a girl or woman have to "put up" with? They get a fun story, thrilling action, comedy, shirtless hunk, a cool kick-butt female hero to like and for the more nerdy girls, a fun comic book movie.
Now we have reached The Notebook.
I saw this film on a date with a serious girlfriend at the time, and it was still kind of hard to watch. I wasn't a critic at the time I saw the film for the first time, that's right, I have seen it more than once, but I still was open-minded towards all films, just as I am now. Like I said earlier, this is one film, and one example, but it can be applied to many others.
1. Rachel McAdams as the film's leading lady. While Rachel McAdams is a beautiful actress, and girls and women will argue that we get her when they got Chris Pratt, Rachel McAdams was, what's the best way to put this, made a "Plain Jane". What that means is that, yes she is a beautiful actress, but they made her look like a "regular girl" in the film. There is a great quote from The Simpsons that makes this point, and for the sake of time, I will just say the quote. If you want the reference, email me and I will send it to you. "I mean TV ugly, not Ugly ugly".
While still pretty, her character is supposed to make every girl or woman feel like they can relate to her. If she is done up like this....
Now, I am not here to debate on what is pretty or beautiful , and I know that people are more than just their body and that we can find people attractive by their minds and actions and how they treat others, and yadda yadda yadda. I get that. I am just saying that the intent of the film is to make Rachel McAdams look more like an everyday woman over a glamorous movie star. The reason is so that women relate to her, so that the romantic events that ensue seem likely and plausible to every woman. More about this topic later.
As far as I am concerned, the girls get a hot and shirtless Chris Pratt, where as I am pretty sure us guys will never get a hot and shirtless Rachel McAdams in any special edition version of The Notebook.
2. Drama. Now, guys can get behind drama if there is something exciting going on behind it. Drama can play out a lot of different ways. it can be intense, so Drama isn't really a bad thing and is used in every movie. That creates the conflict that our protagonist has to overcome whether it be aliens from another planet, or an eating disorder, drama is in everything. But really, the drama in The Notebook is will she be with the guy or not, or what will happen to them if they are? Not really that exciting. Sitting for two hours with an off chance of violence is a long time to sit through a film with no payoff for a guy.
3. This kind of echos my last point, but, little to no action. It's all about feelings and feeling excited when you find true love, and this sadness that the woman, SPOILER ALERT, doesn't remember her own husband and love story in the end, which he comes and tells her everyday, and not only that, but the only hint of violence that the guys like is at the end when the guy commits suicide and dies with his wife. While sweet and romantic to women, guys find this lame.
4. I guess since I posted the pictures of Rachel McAdams, and while I did post a picture of a shirtless Chris Pratt.....
That's right. Ryan Gosling. I actually really do like Ryan Gosling. He is in a few brilliant films, including Lars and the Real Girl, which he was amazing in and should be seen by everyone, and the film Drive, which was also amazing. They are both worth watching. However, the girls get a dreamy hunk, and while girls can get behind a character like Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy because, yeah, she is hot and guys like her, but she is also a strong, independent woman who is tough and kicks butt, so they can get behind that. If I even say the phrase a guy getting behind Ryan Gosling, it's opening up a can of unclean jokes, so I will stay away from it, but you get my point. Guys don't care about other good looking guys. Which leads me to my next point....
5. SEX SCENES. But Nate, guys love sex scenes, I mean, that's all they tend to think about most of the time, right? And The Notebook has two, pretty long, (and uncomfortable, might I add.), sex scenes. Well, yes and no. Guys like Male Fantasy Sex Scenes, and The Notebook has Female Fantasy Sex Scenes. What's the difference? Quite a bit. A Male Fantasy Sex Scene is different in ways I kind of mentioned above. Men like sex scenes of a super hot girl, usually not wearing any clothes, which usually shows gratuitous nudity and acts that you would never talk about with, well, hopefully anyone, but honestly, guys fantasize about women they most likely could never be with or do that stuff with, doing things that just about every real woman outside of the movies and porn industry will never do. However, the same can be said for Female Fantasy Sex Scenes, but in a different way. My 8th grade English teacher defined Romance perfectly. She said, "Romance is something that is possible......that will never happen." (Mrs. Hunter at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan, Utah, You are still one of my all-time favorite teachers.). The difference is that the sex scenes in The Notebook are "Romantic Love Scenes". The girls and women fantasize about this situations happening to them with a strange new, hot guy. They usually aren't graphic, and kind of depict the sexual experience being awkward, but intimate and special. Just as porn or Male Fantasy Sex Scenes depict women doing things that will never happen that women feel that they can never aspire to, nore should they because it really is sick and degrading, Female Fantasy Sex Scenes give women a more realistic scene.......that will never happen, causing women to feel that they are under-appreciated and not treated with the same love and respect as the leading hunk in the film gives to the woman. It's still fantasy, and will never happen, just different. the approach is the same, but the different types of fantasies are played out different in different genres. And then, after all is said and done, if a guy goes to a chick flick hoping to score some points with the wife or girlfriend and is hoping to get lucky later that evening, even if he does, the lights are turned out, and the woman is fantasizing about Ryan Gosling instead of the guy.
Where are the payoffs for the guys in a chick flick? Granted, there are some chick flicks that do have things that men might like, but most of the time, chick flicks are made for women to be watched by women and enjoyed with by other women. In a relationship, you should do things you love to do together, but when it comes to movies, there should be some give and take, but there are certain films that are just for men, and just for women, so enjoy them that way, or even by yourself. I go to the movies by myself all the time, and I have a great experience just the same. I get what I go in for and enjoy the experience. If women don't want to go to a "guy movie", then don't go, or at least understand that there will probably be something in that "guy movie" that you can find to enjoy whereas this isn't the case MOST of the time. There are exceptions to this, and you will usually hear about a film that is great for both men and women that fall into the "chick flick" category that are worth seeing.
Also, Romantic Comedies don't count because men can get behind the comedy and enjoy that, and we have had a lot of instances where rom-coms can be guy movies as well. Pretty much any romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler proves this point. They are romantic and funny, but you get crude and usually sexual humor that guys tend to like over girls.
I am also going to say this right now, I find sex scenes uncomfortable despite them being male or female fantasy sex scenes. I think that they are gratuitous most of the time, and I think that sex can be implied without being seen. The film Fury that came out recently with Brad Pitt had a scene where sex was implied, but didn't show anything, and I was grateful for that. I really hope that guys don't think about sex most of the time and that men respect women and love and care about them for who they are and what they do and say over what they do behind closed doors. I hope that women recognize this and that it is a two way street. Men want to be appreciated and know that they are making their girlfriends, spouses, or partners happy by being themselves and treating them right, and not by how big their abs are....or if they have abs at all, and not in perfect harmony with their feelings all the time.
I love film, and I love the way it makes us feel and think. I love the way that people can gather into a theater and watch a movie and experience it intimately, as well as collectively. Movies can be personal, or an event shared by lots of other people, usually strangers. I think men and women should be more open-minded when it comes to certain genres of films, but I also know that this isn't as realistic as I would like or hope. Most people go to the movies for entertainment, and they tend to watch the genres that entertain them and complain about the genres that don't. My dad will probably never sit down and watch a documentary film, unless it is about sports, and then it's probably a huge maybe. I wouldn't bet on it. I think he might think I am weird for loving Documentary film, which is okay. We are all different and have different likes and dislikes, and to each his or her own.
Anyway, this blog is long enough. I hope you enjoyed reading it if you made it this far.
This is Nate signing out.
As a film critic, it's kind a rule of thumb to not be biased about any particular genre of film. After all, it's kind of important to review and analyze a film based on it's own merits and themes presented individually, instead of grouping the film into a broad category and writing it off as "just like all of the others".
However, a lot of films that we see fall into the "just like all of the others" a little too often, unfortunately, but as a film lover and reviewer, especially when it is kind of your job to watch films and give your honest opinions and share experiences and make recommendations, you have to watch everything like it's the first time. It gets hard sometimes, but it comes with the territory.
I was recently involved in a conversation about how this particular woman was more than happy to go with her guy friends to see movies that are "guy movies" all the time, but they aren't willing to go to "Chick Flicks" with her or her other girl friends. There is a simple explanation, and I am going to give it to you. I will also include screenshots from the films I talk about to illustrate my points, except for a certain topic that you will understand later.
To make my point, I chose two films that are well liked and talked about. One very recent, and one that has been around for a few years, but it makes the points very clear. It does, however, apply to a lot of different films, and not just these two, but it's easiest to make my points with these two films. I chose:
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy VS. The Notebook I will talk about Guardians of the Galaxy first. I used Guardians of the Galaxy to make the points because the comic book was/is pretty obscure before the film was announced and made, and even when it was announced, people thought that Marvel had lost it. So, it's a little easier to use over something like Spider-Man who has been in pop-culture for a long time.
1. It's a movie based on a comic book. Not that girls can't be interested in comic books, but it's pretty much a proven fact that more guys are into comic books than girls. However, I know a few girls that are way into comic books. So, guys are behind this already, but there are a bunch of girls out there who are too.
2. It's a sci-fi action film. While this is something guys are interested in way more often than not, the science fiction is a change of pace for girls who are used to normal films, and the action is still entertaining and easy to enjoy by both men and women. The peril the actors face is still just as dangerous and exciting and thrilling to women, so both men and women can get behind this fact and enjoy it.
3. It's a comedy. Funny is funny no matter the genre, no matter the gender. Guys and girls both find the humor a lot of fun and silly.
4. There's a hot, green alien chick who kicks a lot of butt. Maybe this is more of a fantasy for the guys, but still, a super cool, kick-butt woman character is still pretty cool for girls, even if girls not as pretty as her call her degrading names behind her back, but that happens in real life and in chick flicks as well, so yeah, the guys might get the fantasy aspect, and by fantasy, I mean.....well, we know what guys think about when they see someone they are attracted to.
5. The plot is interesting. A good plot, and this goes both ways for guys and girls in any genre, but the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy is a lot of fun and interesting to watch play out. There is some childhood emotion that is involved with Star-Lord or Peter Quill, there is a little romance between Star-Lord and Gamora, There's a great partnership between Rocket Raccoon and Groot, Drax the Destroyer has a back story about his wife and daughter being murdered, and there is a whole planet on the verge of being wiped out unless the Guardians can make it there in time and stop a pretty powerful villain. It's interesting for everyone who watches it.
Those are five reasons why Guardians of the Galaxy is technically a guy film and why men love it, but let's be honest, it was one of the highest, if not the highest grossing film of the year, and was attended by millions and millions of girls and women as well. But there is something in Guardians of the Galaxy that women get that men, well, straight men, don't get.
That's right, a shirtless Chris Pratt with a nice body shape and great abs. Honestly, I am a little jealous, but not to the point of calling him a slut and demeaning him on Facebook, that's more of a girl thing....Just saying.....
So, really, what did a girl or woman have to "put up" with? They get a fun story, thrilling action, comedy, shirtless hunk, a cool kick-butt female hero to like and for the more nerdy girls, a fun comic book movie.
Now we have reached The Notebook.
I saw this film on a date with a serious girlfriend at the time, and it was still kind of hard to watch. I wasn't a critic at the time I saw the film for the first time, that's right, I have seen it more than once, but I still was open-minded towards all films, just as I am now. Like I said earlier, this is one film, and one example, but it can be applied to many others.
1. Rachel McAdams as the film's leading lady. While Rachel McAdams is a beautiful actress, and girls and women will argue that we get her when they got Chris Pratt, Rachel McAdams was, what's the best way to put this, made a "Plain Jane". What that means is that, yes she is a beautiful actress, but they made her look like a "regular girl" in the film. There is a great quote from The Simpsons that makes this point, and for the sake of time, I will just say the quote. If you want the reference, email me and I will send it to you. "I mean TV ugly, not Ugly ugly".
While still pretty, her character is supposed to make every girl or woman feel like they can relate to her. If she is done up like this....
Now, I am not here to debate on what is pretty or beautiful , and I know that people are more than just their body and that we can find people attractive by their minds and actions and how they treat others, and yadda yadda yadda. I get that. I am just saying that the intent of the film is to make Rachel McAdams look more like an everyday woman over a glamorous movie star. The reason is so that women relate to her, so that the romantic events that ensue seem likely and plausible to every woman. More about this topic later.
As far as I am concerned, the girls get a hot and shirtless Chris Pratt, where as I am pretty sure us guys will never get a hot and shirtless Rachel McAdams in any special edition version of The Notebook.
2. Drama. Now, guys can get behind drama if there is something exciting going on behind it. Drama can play out a lot of different ways. it can be intense, so Drama isn't really a bad thing and is used in every movie. That creates the conflict that our protagonist has to overcome whether it be aliens from another planet, or an eating disorder, drama is in everything. But really, the drama in The Notebook is will she be with the guy or not, or what will happen to them if they are? Not really that exciting. Sitting for two hours with an off chance of violence is a long time to sit through a film with no payoff for a guy.
3. This kind of echos my last point, but, little to no action. It's all about feelings and feeling excited when you find true love, and this sadness that the woman, SPOILER ALERT, doesn't remember her own husband and love story in the end, which he comes and tells her everyday, and not only that, but the only hint of violence that the guys like is at the end when the guy commits suicide and dies with his wife. While sweet and romantic to women, guys find this lame.
4. I guess since I posted the pictures of Rachel McAdams, and while I did post a picture of a shirtless Chris Pratt.....
That's right. Ryan Gosling. I actually really do like Ryan Gosling. He is in a few brilliant films, including Lars and the Real Girl, which he was amazing in and should be seen by everyone, and the film Drive, which was also amazing. They are both worth watching. However, the girls get a dreamy hunk, and while girls can get behind a character like Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy because, yeah, she is hot and guys like her, but she is also a strong, independent woman who is tough and kicks butt, so they can get behind that. If I even say the phrase a guy getting behind Ryan Gosling, it's opening up a can of unclean jokes, so I will stay away from it, but you get my point. Guys don't care about other good looking guys. Which leads me to my next point....
5. SEX SCENES. But Nate, guys love sex scenes, I mean, that's all they tend to think about most of the time, right? And The Notebook has two, pretty long, (and uncomfortable, might I add.), sex scenes. Well, yes and no. Guys like Male Fantasy Sex Scenes, and The Notebook has Female Fantasy Sex Scenes. What's the difference? Quite a bit. A Male Fantasy Sex Scene is different in ways I kind of mentioned above. Men like sex scenes of a super hot girl, usually not wearing any clothes, which usually shows gratuitous nudity and acts that you would never talk about with, well, hopefully anyone, but honestly, guys fantasize about women they most likely could never be with or do that stuff with, doing things that just about every real woman outside of the movies and porn industry will never do. However, the same can be said for Female Fantasy Sex Scenes, but in a different way. My 8th grade English teacher defined Romance perfectly. She said, "Romance is something that is possible......that will never happen." (Mrs. Hunter at Joel P. Jensen Middle School in West Jordan, Utah, You are still one of my all-time favorite teachers.). The difference is that the sex scenes in The Notebook are "Romantic Love Scenes". The girls and women fantasize about this situations happening to them with a strange new, hot guy. They usually aren't graphic, and kind of depict the sexual experience being awkward, but intimate and special. Just as porn or Male Fantasy Sex Scenes depict women doing things that will never happen that women feel that they can never aspire to, nore should they because it really is sick and degrading, Female Fantasy Sex Scenes give women a more realistic scene.......that will never happen, causing women to feel that they are under-appreciated and not treated with the same love and respect as the leading hunk in the film gives to the woman. It's still fantasy, and will never happen, just different. the approach is the same, but the different types of fantasies are played out different in different genres. And then, after all is said and done, if a guy goes to a chick flick hoping to score some points with the wife or girlfriend and is hoping to get lucky later that evening, even if he does, the lights are turned out, and the woman is fantasizing about Ryan Gosling instead of the guy.
Where are the payoffs for the guys in a chick flick? Granted, there are some chick flicks that do have things that men might like, but most of the time, chick flicks are made for women to be watched by women and enjoyed with by other women. In a relationship, you should do things you love to do together, but when it comes to movies, there should be some give and take, but there are certain films that are just for men, and just for women, so enjoy them that way, or even by yourself. I go to the movies by myself all the time, and I have a great experience just the same. I get what I go in for and enjoy the experience. If women don't want to go to a "guy movie", then don't go, or at least understand that there will probably be something in that "guy movie" that you can find to enjoy whereas this isn't the case MOST of the time. There are exceptions to this, and you will usually hear about a film that is great for both men and women that fall into the "chick flick" category that are worth seeing.
Also, Romantic Comedies don't count because men can get behind the comedy and enjoy that, and we have had a lot of instances where rom-coms can be guy movies as well. Pretty much any romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler proves this point. They are romantic and funny, but you get crude and usually sexual humor that guys tend to like over girls.
I am also going to say this right now, I find sex scenes uncomfortable despite them being male or female fantasy sex scenes. I think that they are gratuitous most of the time, and I think that sex can be implied without being seen. The film Fury that came out recently with Brad Pitt had a scene where sex was implied, but didn't show anything, and I was grateful for that. I really hope that guys don't think about sex most of the time and that men respect women and love and care about them for who they are and what they do and say over what they do behind closed doors. I hope that women recognize this and that it is a two way street. Men want to be appreciated and know that they are making their girlfriends, spouses, or partners happy by being themselves and treating them right, and not by how big their abs are....or if they have abs at all, and not in perfect harmony with their feelings all the time.
I love film, and I love the way it makes us feel and think. I love the way that people can gather into a theater and watch a movie and experience it intimately, as well as collectively. Movies can be personal, or an event shared by lots of other people, usually strangers. I think men and women should be more open-minded when it comes to certain genres of films, but I also know that this isn't as realistic as I would like or hope. Most people go to the movies for entertainment, and they tend to watch the genres that entertain them and complain about the genres that don't. My dad will probably never sit down and watch a documentary film, unless it is about sports, and then it's probably a huge maybe. I wouldn't bet on it. I think he might think I am weird for loving Documentary film, which is okay. We are all different and have different likes and dislikes, and to each his or her own.
Anyway, this blog is long enough. I hope you enjoyed reading it if you made it this far.
This is Nate signing out.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Cheesy Christmas Newsletter.....
Every year, I tend to find a letter in the mail around the Christmas season, that is a family "newsletter" of some sort telling everyone what their family has experienced throughout that year. I have always wanted to write one as a joke with false information, just for fun. I think that sometimes they are kind of lame, but then I was looking at it from another side earlier today. Those newsletters in some way are almost like a short, non-electronic blog about the family, and sometimes I don't find blogs lame depending on the person. Anyway, I thought about it. I am going to write a "newsletter" style blog with a couple pictures here and there, and tell people what I was up to this year, You can read it if you want, or not if that's what you want to do. I think this is a great year to do this since 2011 through 2013 kind of sucked, and this year sucked less. Anyway here we go.
This year has been a fast and crazy year full of changes and realizations of sorts. I have lived another year, so my plan to live forever is still working out for me. As you may or may not know, I have been divorced for a couple of years, and it only gets better as time goes by. They say that you are more happy in marriage the more time passes, and that works with divorce as well, let me tell you!
Even though I am single, which tends to suck, especially in Utah, it sucks a little less because I have a great four-year-old son who keeps me in check and constantly remembering what is important in life. I honestly feel closer to my faith in certain ways because I have a son who I want to be a good example for, since he has to get it from somewhere, and it helps me constantly realize what is important.
January is always a crazy month for me. The first half not so much, but the second half is the Sundance Film Festival which I have covered for the past six years, with my seventh year coming up in about four weeks from now. It's always a great time to see some great stuff that I will either never see again, or see on Netflix three years from now. If you want some recommendations of great documentary films from Sundance from three years ago that have barely found their way to Netflix, shoot me an email, and I will let you know some great, not so new, docs.
February, Basically, I turned 33. Everything else from that month isn't really coming to me right now, which probably means I wasn't doing anything special unless playing a video game or watching lots of movies is worth noting, but in this case, probably not.
March was fun. Basically auditioned for Shrek: The Musical out at the Empress Theatre. I got cast as Papa Bear and one of the Knights of the Back-up, which, yeah, were super small roles, but the friends I made in that show were great. Basically, April and May are me rehearsing for this show and performing them with some cool movie screenings in between. Most notably Captain America: Winter Soldier in April and May a couple too.
Also in May, I will just skip April, we performed Shrek: The Musical, and I auditioned for The Addams Family: The Musical. I went in wanting the role of Fester, and I ended up in the role of Fester, and it was awesome, but we didn't really get started with that until......wait for it......
June, Shrek: The Musical ended and I started right into rehearsals for The Addams Family. Everything about the show was a blast. It was double cast, so I had fun working with people who I didn't end up performing with...except for the one time Dallon and I switched nights so he could do something, but didn't want to miss out on a performance. Anyway, Dallon was fun to work with. We played the character very different, but it was fun.
Also in June, we had a fun time with Elliot and my nephew and two nieces, Carson, Elizabeth and Olivia. The summer was met with lots of splash pads and trampolines with sprinklers under them.
July and August was full of movie screenings for the summer as well as The Addams Family performances. I was at either a movie theater or the Empress.
Here I am on Fox 13 News in the Morning with Big Budah. It was a fun interview. We had a good time.
Also in August, I gained a new niece, Stella.
September was a good month. Elliot turned 4 years old, and I can't believe that he is already that age. Four years seems like a long time, but when you have a child or multiple children, four years in nothing.
Also in September, I was made an uncle for the fifth time. My new niece Sophie was born!
Totally kidding, here is the real picture of Sophie, but really, that monkey is freaking adorable!
October was fun. I got back in the swing of things with The Jesters Royale out at the Empress. If you didn't know already from my annoying advertisements on my Facebook page, it is the Improv Comedy troupe that I play with on Friday nights. If you haven't seen us, you really should come check us out. Really, Magna is a lot closer than downtown SLC for most of the Salt Lake Valley. We had a fun Halloween show. Elliot came and we went Trick or Treating before the show. He was a Blue Power Ranger Pirate from one of the 17 incarnations of the show.
Here are all of the kiddos in their Halloween get-ups. Olivia is the Witch, Elliot the Blue Pirate Power Ranger, Carson as a Karate Kid or Ninja, Lizzy as what every other girl in the country was for Halloween this year, Elsa from Frozen, Sophie as a Strawberry and Stella as a Cupcake, I think.....
In October, I also attended a Gala for The Empress Theatre, where we had The Emppys, which are awards for the shows for the past season. I was nominated in two categories: Best Supporting Character in last year's Christmas show, The 12 Days of Christmas (We were supposed to do A Christmas Story where I was cast as the father, and then we had to change the show when the rights became unavailable to do the show due to a Broadway touring company wanting to do an East Coast tour, and we had to learn a new show within two weeks. It was crazy.), and Best Character Actor for Fester in The Addams Family. I have said it before, and I will say it again, I am flattered that people loved me as Fester in that show, but you telling me that "I looked the part" isn't exactly a compliment, ha ha ha. The Gala was a masquerade, so I had Elliot color some cheap paper bear masks, since I was Papa Bear in Shrek this season. I was Papa Bear, Elliot was Baby Bear for the gala.
October ended and November began, which saw me rehearsing for A Charlie Brown Christmas. I played Linus in the show, which was great, but I will get to that a little later. I had Elliot more consecutive days in a row over Thanksgiving than I have ever had him before, due to the schedule I currently follow for the times we have him. I realized over this break that life isn't as good without Elliot around. I miss him tremendously when he isn't there and time seems to slow down when he isn't around, which isn't always a good thing. A few days almost seems like months when you want to see your child. It's hard to explain and hard to understand if you don't have your kid all the time. Some parents look for breaks from their kids...I wish I didn't have any. November was a good month. I also attended an Aquabats concert where Kepi Ghoulie, one of my favorite punk rock artists, was the opening act, which didn't disappoint, and the Aquabats were awesome too, and then a week later, I went to see one of my favorite bands, Coheed and Cambria. It was great.
Finally the end of November, and throughout December, most of my life consisted of rehearsing and performing A Charlie Brown Christmas. People in the theater world tend to not do Christmas shows because life gets so busy around that time of the year, which is true. Since 2007 when I started getting into performing a lot, I have been in five Christmas shows. Some have been great, some have not, lol. My first one in 2007 was an old time radio style version of It's A Wonderful Life, and that was a great experience. I loved everyone in the cast and had fun with it. Over the years, they haven't all been the best, but I almost feel like the holidays aren't special unless I share my talents on stage with other people by helping to tell a story to remind people of the spirit of the holidays.
This year, however, was probably the best time I have ever had with a cast, Christmas show or not. There were nine of us in the cast, and three musicians, one director, and a couple technical crew. That's super small considering for Shrek we had over three times that many people in just the cast. Anyway, the cast was made up of a couple of friends from past shows I was in, and then a couple friends from improv, and then a friend from my fourth grade class back in the day, and then one new person who played Lucy, which was weird considering that I had never met her before, and the first rehearsal I had was with just her, blocking out our scenes, and maybe she didn't feel this way, but it felt like, to me, that we had been in shows together in the past, and we knew each other and how we worked and acted. It was really cool meeting someone new and feeling like we were friends already. The show has only been over with for about five days now, and I miss it like crazy.
The 17 performances we had flew by. We would hang out and get food after rehearsals or performances. Saturdays were crazy between a matinee performance and evening performance, but we had lots of fun together with food and movies and games. We played Rock Band and Beatles Rock Band for hours after Saturday evening shows. We worked hard on the show, and then we played hard after. It was great. I am excited to be rehearsing a new show, Into the Woods, for January, with Chalese, who played Sally in the show, but I am going to miss Margo, Connie, Robert, Kevin, Kristina, and to a lesser extent, Justina ( who is going to be doing sound for us for Into the Woods), David (who is on the improv team with me), and our music director, Nancy (Who is our director for Into the Woods). Also, Lindsay was an awesome director and Nancy, Larry and Zach were a wonderful Jazz trio. I love you all so much, and thank you for making this holiday season wonderful.
Another great thing about doing A Charlie Brown Christmas, is that my character, Linus Van Pelt, or Li-Li V.P. as he is known in Detroit, Michigan, is kind of a know-it-all, but at the same time has the same amazement and wonder of a little kid, and his character is pivotal in the show as he helps Charlie Brown discover the true meaning of Christmas. Every show I had the wonderful opportunity to quote the Christmas story from the bible, but I truly believe in what I was quoting, with all my heart, and so being able to quote those passages was a way for me to be able to share my testimony of the birth and mission of the Savior, and I can't think of a better way to end the year, than by doing that.
As I look back at this past year, sure, there were cool or fun things like getting a Playstation 4 or going to lots and lots of movies, or concerts or whatever, but what really stood out to me this year were the talents I was able to share, the people that came into my life, the new family members gained, and the time spent with the friends and family that I love which are more dear to me than anything else. Sometimes in life, we get caught up in things and we sometimes gloss over the experiences we are having with friends and family. We work on achieving goals that are important, sure, but like John Lennon used to say, and wrote into a song, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans". It's profound, but simple. Remember this coming year to focus on the little things in life that make up your everyday life, and not just to the big moments, because the little things that happen are what make us who we are and that make us truly happy.
Here is wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2015.
Nate and Elliot Unck
This year has been a fast and crazy year full of changes and realizations of sorts. I have lived another year, so my plan to live forever is still working out for me. As you may or may not know, I have been divorced for a couple of years, and it only gets better as time goes by. They say that you are more happy in marriage the more time passes, and that works with divorce as well, let me tell you!
Even though I am single, which tends to suck, especially in Utah, it sucks a little less because I have a great four-year-old son who keeps me in check and constantly remembering what is important in life. I honestly feel closer to my faith in certain ways because I have a son who I want to be a good example for, since he has to get it from somewhere, and it helps me constantly realize what is important.
January is always a crazy month for me. The first half not so much, but the second half is the Sundance Film Festival which I have covered for the past six years, with my seventh year coming up in about four weeks from now. It's always a great time to see some great stuff that I will either never see again, or see on Netflix three years from now. If you want some recommendations of great documentary films from Sundance from three years ago that have barely found their way to Netflix, shoot me an email, and I will let you know some great, not so new, docs.
February, Basically, I turned 33. Everything else from that month isn't really coming to me right now, which probably means I wasn't doing anything special unless playing a video game or watching lots of movies is worth noting, but in this case, probably not.
March was fun. Basically auditioned for Shrek: The Musical out at the Empress Theatre. I got cast as Papa Bear and one of the Knights of the Back-up, which, yeah, were super small roles, but the friends I made in that show were great. Basically, April and May are me rehearsing for this show and performing them with some cool movie screenings in between. Most notably Captain America: Winter Soldier in April and May a couple too.
Also in May, I will just skip April, we performed Shrek: The Musical, and I auditioned for The Addams Family: The Musical. I went in wanting the role of Fester, and I ended up in the role of Fester, and it was awesome, but we didn't really get started with that until......wait for it......
June, Shrek: The Musical ended and I started right into rehearsals for The Addams Family. Everything about the show was a blast. It was double cast, so I had fun working with people who I didn't end up performing with...except for the one time Dallon and I switched nights so he could do something, but didn't want to miss out on a performance. Anyway, Dallon was fun to work with. We played the character very different, but it was fun.
Also in June, we had a fun time with Elliot and my nephew and two nieces, Carson, Elizabeth and Olivia. The summer was met with lots of splash pads and trampolines with sprinklers under them.
July and August was full of movie screenings for the summer as well as The Addams Family performances. I was at either a movie theater or the Empress.
Here I am on Fox 13 News in the Morning with Big Budah. It was a fun interview. We had a good time.
Also in August, I gained a new niece, Stella.
September was a good month. Elliot turned 4 years old, and I can't believe that he is already that age. Four years seems like a long time, but when you have a child or multiple children, four years in nothing.
Also in September, I was made an uncle for the fifth time. My new niece Sophie was born!
Totally kidding, here is the real picture of Sophie, but really, that monkey is freaking adorable!
October was fun. I got back in the swing of things with The Jesters Royale out at the Empress. If you didn't know already from my annoying advertisements on my Facebook page, it is the Improv Comedy troupe that I play with on Friday nights. If you haven't seen us, you really should come check us out. Really, Magna is a lot closer than downtown SLC for most of the Salt Lake Valley. We had a fun Halloween show. Elliot came and we went Trick or Treating before the show. He was a Blue Power Ranger Pirate from one of the 17 incarnations of the show.
Here are all of the kiddos in their Halloween get-ups. Olivia is the Witch, Elliot the Blue Pirate Power Ranger, Carson as a Karate Kid or Ninja, Lizzy as what every other girl in the country was for Halloween this year, Elsa from Frozen, Sophie as a Strawberry and Stella as a Cupcake, I think.....
In October, I also attended a Gala for The Empress Theatre, where we had The Emppys, which are awards for the shows for the past season. I was nominated in two categories: Best Supporting Character in last year's Christmas show, The 12 Days of Christmas (We were supposed to do A Christmas Story where I was cast as the father, and then we had to change the show when the rights became unavailable to do the show due to a Broadway touring company wanting to do an East Coast tour, and we had to learn a new show within two weeks. It was crazy.), and Best Character Actor for Fester in The Addams Family. I have said it before, and I will say it again, I am flattered that people loved me as Fester in that show, but you telling me that "I looked the part" isn't exactly a compliment, ha ha ha. The Gala was a masquerade, so I had Elliot color some cheap paper bear masks, since I was Papa Bear in Shrek this season. I was Papa Bear, Elliot was Baby Bear for the gala.
Finally the end of November, and throughout December, most of my life consisted of rehearsing and performing A Charlie Brown Christmas. People in the theater world tend to not do Christmas shows because life gets so busy around that time of the year, which is true. Since 2007 when I started getting into performing a lot, I have been in five Christmas shows. Some have been great, some have not, lol. My first one in 2007 was an old time radio style version of It's A Wonderful Life, and that was a great experience. I loved everyone in the cast and had fun with it. Over the years, they haven't all been the best, but I almost feel like the holidays aren't special unless I share my talents on stage with other people by helping to tell a story to remind people of the spirit of the holidays.
This year, however, was probably the best time I have ever had with a cast, Christmas show or not. There were nine of us in the cast, and three musicians, one director, and a couple technical crew. That's super small considering for Shrek we had over three times that many people in just the cast. Anyway, the cast was made up of a couple of friends from past shows I was in, and then a couple friends from improv, and then a friend from my fourth grade class back in the day, and then one new person who played Lucy, which was weird considering that I had never met her before, and the first rehearsal I had was with just her, blocking out our scenes, and maybe she didn't feel this way, but it felt like, to me, that we had been in shows together in the past, and we knew each other and how we worked and acted. It was really cool meeting someone new and feeling like we were friends already. The show has only been over with for about five days now, and I miss it like crazy.
Another great thing about doing A Charlie Brown Christmas, is that my character, Linus Van Pelt, or Li-Li V.P. as he is known in Detroit, Michigan, is kind of a know-it-all, but at the same time has the same amazement and wonder of a little kid, and his character is pivotal in the show as he helps Charlie Brown discover the true meaning of Christmas. Every show I had the wonderful opportunity to quote the Christmas story from the bible, but I truly believe in what I was quoting, with all my heart, and so being able to quote those passages was a way for me to be able to share my testimony of the birth and mission of the Savior, and I can't think of a better way to end the year, than by doing that.
As I look back at this past year, sure, there were cool or fun things like getting a Playstation 4 or going to lots and lots of movies, or concerts or whatever, but what really stood out to me this year were the talents I was able to share, the people that came into my life, the new family members gained, and the time spent with the friends and family that I love which are more dear to me than anything else. Sometimes in life, we get caught up in things and we sometimes gloss over the experiences we are having with friends and family. We work on achieving goals that are important, sure, but like John Lennon used to say, and wrote into a song, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans". It's profound, but simple. Remember this coming year to focus on the little things in life that make up your everyday life, and not just to the big moments, because the little things that happen are what make us who we are and that make us truly happy.
Here is wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous 2015.
Nate and Elliot Unck
Monday, November 24, 2014
Top Tens #1: Top Ten Favorite Albums That Got Me Through High School.....
I cannot believe that it has been so long since I have posted something here on my personal blog that isn't connected to "The Reel Perspective" podcast I have. It's been way too long. I have been really busy, but still, I don't have an excuse.
So, being a media critic, I am always asked what my top ten favorite things are, whether it's movies, music, books, video games, comic book, anything dealing with entertainment. It's always hard to answer those questions because when you are so busy being immersed in the media and arts, you experience so many different things and enjoy different things. It's hard to do because there are are so many different ways that the media and arts inspire us about a wide variety of many different subjects. So, I decided that I will do some top ten lists about things that I love, but I am narrowing the categories so that I can share more things.
My first list is the top ten albums that got me through high school. They aren't exactly listed in order, but it doesn't really matter. Here is my list and explanations.
The first thing you need to know is that I was in high school from 1996 through 1999, so you won't find anything after that.
10. The Beatles: Rubber Soul (UK Release)
While I listened to every Beatles album all the time with them being my favorite band of all-time, Rubber Soul is my favorite. Not that the others aren't amazing, but there is something wonderful to me about this record. It doesn't have a lot of the big number one hits, but it has Nowhere Man, I'm Looking Through You, and In My Life, which is probably my favorite track. I love the idea presented in that song that people come in and out of your life. You have family, friends and lovers that you share life with, wonderful experiences with, and then people change, or pass away, or leave. Not only is it deep, but I think it describes high school, or being a teenager really well. You see these people you go to school with for a few years. They are part of your life, almost everyday, and then you graduate, and people move on out and up in the world. It doesn't mean they weren't special, it just means life is happening. John Lennon recorded a song during his solo career that says "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.", It really shows how life changes.
9. The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
When I received my first CD player when I was in 7th grade, I only had Beatles albums for a while, ha ha ha. Seriously, I listened to them a lot. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was my first album that wasn't a Beatles album. I loved the song "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" which I watched the music video of on "The Box". If any of you know what I am talking about when I say that, then good for you, you are awesome...and old, lol. Anyway, I remember getting the album because my dad tried to talk me into getting another Smashing Pumpkins album because Mellon Collie was a double record, so it cost more, but I insisted on it. Thanks, Dad. Anyway, I listened to this album a lot driving out to school and back, since I was traveling from West Jordan to Magna. I might have had it earlier than high school, but a lot of the songs from the album were great for high school and teen angst. Their follow-up album, Adore, didn't come out until close to my graduation, so this was the Pumpkins album that I listened to most.
8. Oasis: What's the Story Morning Glory
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As I said before, I loved The Beatles, and Oasis, although not nearly as good as The Beatles, still had a lot of great songs on this album. Oasis is still around, but really, their best stuff came out in the 90s. Their follow up album, Be Here Now, had some great stuff too, but overall, this is the Oasis album that I have always loved the best.
7. The Mr. T Experience: Our Bodies, Ourselves
My super cool cousin, Greg, got me into punk rock, and I mean, really got me into it. The Mr. T Experience is so awesome. Dr. Frank (A.K.A. Frank Portman, author of the young adult novel, King Dork), may not be the greatest singer at times, but man, this guy knows music and how to write it, and his lyrics are absolutely genius. This song had my high school anthem on it..."Even Hitler Had A Girlfriend". A guy singing how he can't get girls, but the worst guy in history even got them, so what's wrong with girls? When I heard the recent news this past week that Charles Manson is getting married in prison, this is the first thing I thought of. The funny thing is, Charles Manson is mentioned in the song as well. This record has some really great west coast bay area punk at it's best. I also wanted to put their album, Revenge is Sweet and So Are You on the list, but I wanted to add variety.
6. The Groovie Ghoulies: Fun in the Dark
Another awesome "Ramones" style punk band. The Groovie Ghoulies had quite a few albums, but this one is my favorite. The song "She's My (Vimpire Girl), is freaking awesome, and ends with the lyrics "I wanna rock n' roll every night, and sleep through every day." sung over and over, and since I have insomnia, and loved going to punk rock shows, those became some of my favorite lyrics of all time. Other notable songs on the album are Carly Simon, Brain Scrambling Device, Outbreak, and Don't Make Me Kill You Again. Although they broke up in 2007, they were around since 1986, their lead singer, Kepi Ghoulie still writes, records, and tours today. He has some great stuff, and even just released a new album last week called "Kepi Goes Country". He took some of his rock music and has recorded them with acoustic guitars and classic country instruments, not modern twain country stuff. More like Johnny Cash country. He also did that while the Groovie Ghoulies were still together under the band name The Haints. It's great, fun and energetic music.
5. Bush: Sixteen Stone
I got this album when I was in 8th grade, but I didn't care too much for their follow up album, Razor Blade Suitcase, so this was my go-to Bush album. Everything from "Come Down", "Machine Head" and "Glycerin" always put me in a good, energetic mood. I loved listening to this album before track meets or whatever.
4. U2: Achtung Baby
Although most people consider U2's album, The Joshua Tree, to be their best, Achtung Baby (Achtung is German for attention, by the way, just in case you were wondering) is my favorite. It has some of their biggest hits including: "Mysterious Ways" and "One", but it's the other songs that really make it my favorite. The song "So Cruel" is incredible, and "Light My Way (Ultraviolet Rays) is a wonderful song. While I still consider "With or Without You" to be the greatest song to slow dance to at dances, as a whole, this one is super awesome.
3. The Aquabats: The Fury of the Aquabats
I love The Aquabats. I heard about them and how they went to BYU and are Latter-Day saints was icing on the cake for me. Their brand of humor and Ska music really connected with me. To this day, this is still my favorite Aquabats album. I love to watch their TV show with Elliot, and even got Elliot to love them as well. It's a father-son bonding experience to have fun with The Aquabats. It's not the best video recording in the world, but here is a link to a video I posted on Youtube with Elliot and me playing "Guitar Hero" guitars while watching an Aquabats concert DVD that I have. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efAcljQuX4 This was also my first Ska album in general, but it really got me into the genre and is still one of my top favorite genres today.
2. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV
Three words: Stairway to Heaven. Also, Black Dog, Rock And Roll, and When the Levee Breaks. I love tons of Led Zeppelin, but this was the first time I "Got the led out". I remember buying it and listening to it with my headphones because my mom told me a story that whenever her good friend used to listen to Led Zeppeling, she would drink a lot. I thought that that was my mom's way of telling me it wasn't very uplifting and that I probably shouldn't listen to it. However, one day, I thought everyone in the house was gone, and I put it on my stereo and cranked it. My mom came running down the stairs and half said and yelled "Yeeahhhh, Led Zeppelin". All of that sneaking around to feel rebellious blew up in my face. I could have been blasting them that whole time. My one "guilty pleasure" album ended up being not guilty. It wouldn't be until I started listening to Sublime that I would get that back.
1. Journey: Journey's Greatest Hits
Although I did have a vinyl of the Journey Album "Frontiers", (Which was awesome, the label on the record had a picture with the band in skydiving uniforms holding hands in a circle, so while the record was spinning, it looked like they were doing a skydiving trick formation.) When I got around to getting an album, I got their Greatest Hits. I feel like this is kind of a half point because I don't exactly count greatest hits albums as a real album, since usually albums are works of art themselves and songs fit into albums for a reason, well, most of the time anyway, but I loved this greatest hits album. Most people consider "Don't Stop Believing" and "Any Way You Want It" to be their biggest hits, I have always been partial to "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" to be my favorite. Which is also the song that opened up their album "Frontiers", that I mentioned above. There are even more awesome songs on the album, but I think you get the point.
Anyway, that about does it for the list. Like I said, they weren't numbered in a "countdown to my favorite" list. It would be impossible to rank them. Other bands that are honorable mentions are The Guess Who, The Who, Green Day, I can't believe that I didn't have Green Day on there somewhere, but to be honest, Green Day was kind of something I was into more in Middle School. I still love them and listen to them all the time, but when I think of my favorite albums from Green Day, they are from different time periods.
Anyway, I hope you like the list and are inspired to check some of them out. I hope this was a fun blog for you to read. It was a blast to write.
So, being a media critic, I am always asked what my top ten favorite things are, whether it's movies, music, books, video games, comic book, anything dealing with entertainment. It's always hard to answer those questions because when you are so busy being immersed in the media and arts, you experience so many different things and enjoy different things. It's hard to do because there are are so many different ways that the media and arts inspire us about a wide variety of many different subjects. So, I decided that I will do some top ten lists about things that I love, but I am narrowing the categories so that I can share more things.
My first list is the top ten albums that got me through high school. They aren't exactly listed in order, but it doesn't really matter. Here is my list and explanations.
The first thing you need to know is that I was in high school from 1996 through 1999, so you won't find anything after that.
10. The Beatles: Rubber Soul (UK Release)
9. The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
8. Oasis: What's the Story Morning Glory
7. The Mr. T Experience: Our Bodies, Ourselves
6. The Groovie Ghoulies: Fun in the Dark
5. Bush: Sixteen Stone
4. U2: Achtung Baby
3. The Aquabats: The Fury of the Aquabats
2. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin IV
1. Journey: Journey's Greatest Hits
Anyway, that about does it for the list. Like I said, they weren't numbered in a "countdown to my favorite" list. It would be impossible to rank them. Other bands that are honorable mentions are The Guess Who, The Who, Green Day, I can't believe that I didn't have Green Day on there somewhere, but to be honest, Green Day was kind of something I was into more in Middle School. I still love them and listen to them all the time, but when I think of my favorite albums from Green Day, they are from different time periods.
Anyway, I hope you like the list and are inspired to check some of them out. I hope this was a fun blog for you to read. It was a blast to write.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Coheed, Cambria, and the Tragic Story of Love and Lost...
Most of you who know me well know that I am a die-hard Coheed and Cambria fan. Like, crazy nuts over Coheed and Cambria. Earlier this evening I attended their Neverender Concert where they played their second album: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3. I could spend forever on a blog about the band. How their albums are a soundtrack to a comic book that their lead singer/songwriter, Claudio Sanchez writes. The comics cover their first two albums so far, out of six albums, lol, but the story is all there. Anyway, at the concert, I was able to push my way up to the front, here is a picture we got of Claudio singing and playing away.
Yes. We were that close. Front and center.
Now at rock shows, especially if you want to get close to the stage in a general admissions show, you have to get nice and comfy with the people around you. Mosh pits are the best because they clear big crowds of people out of the way, and it is easy to sneak in and past and get closer. It was closer when my love story starts.
Coheed had been playing for about 20 minutes and the crowd was rocking and having a great time. While being pushed around a little as I was working my way to the front, I stopped moving, the song had just ended. Everyone was regrouping, so I was standing there, and I look next to me expecting to see my friends, Tom and Michael, and there I saw a stunning blond girl. Everyone was all sweaty and stuff from the dancing and moshing going on, but she still looked fantastic.We both bought the same tour t-shirt, which she put on over a t-shirt with the Abbey Road Beatles album cover, (my second favorite Beatles album after Rubber Soul), and she had green ear plugs, Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars (my favorite shoes), and jeans. She looked over at me and smiled one of the prettiest smiles I have received from a girl in a long while now. It wasn't just a normal smile, though. It was like we looked at each other, smiled, and something clicked. Coheed starts playing again and she starts dancing super fun and crazy and looks at me, and by that time, I was under a spell. I couldn't help but jump and dance around with her. We were singing all of the words to the songs together. She smiled, got in front of me, while dancing and kept looking back over her shoulder at me. We shared this dance together. I was completely unaware of my surroundings by this point. One of my all time favorite bands is up playing some of their best music, and I was lost.
The song ends, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and behind me is a guy...matching green ear plugs. He reaches over, and pulls her back by his side, glaring at me with fire in his eyes. I had no idea, of course. He took her back a couple rows of people and with the craziness of the show coming back into picture, I turned around, rocked hard, but didn't see her again.
I always loved the song 'You're Beautiful" by James Blunt, (listen and or download the radio edit, by the way, he says the F word in the regular album version which sucks because it doesn't fit the song, like, at all.) I never felt the weight of the song until tonight. Anyway, I can't remember the last time I connected with someone like that. I never learned her name....nothing. Forever in my mind, she is going to be called "The Coheed Girl", and when I hear their song 2's My Favorite 1 by Coheed, she is the girl I am always going to think of.
They say "It's better to have love and lost than to have loved at all". I never knew that in the right setting in the right way, you can fall in love and lose it just as fast. Tonight the new girl of my dreams is somewhere in the Salt Lake Valley being taken home and kissed goodnight by someone who isn't me. It's a safe bet to say that I will never see her again, but my heart, though a little broken, is a little happier for having that moment.
I don't think I will ever forget you, Coheed girl, and even though you will never see this, and let alone know it is about you, I wish you love and happiness wherever you are and whoever you are with. Thank you for the gift of your warm smile and the dance/rock-out we had. It proved to me that the magic of love is still out there, and that in the right circumstances can still find me.
To end I will quote a line from Coheed and Cambria's song 2's My Favorite 1 about my Coheed Girl, "Cross towards the dance floor and together we will show them who's boss".
Yes. We were that close. Front and center.
Now at rock shows, especially if you want to get close to the stage in a general admissions show, you have to get nice and comfy with the people around you. Mosh pits are the best because they clear big crowds of people out of the way, and it is easy to sneak in and past and get closer. It was closer when my love story starts.
Coheed had been playing for about 20 minutes and the crowd was rocking and having a great time. While being pushed around a little as I was working my way to the front, I stopped moving, the song had just ended. Everyone was regrouping, so I was standing there, and I look next to me expecting to see my friends, Tom and Michael, and there I saw a stunning blond girl. Everyone was all sweaty and stuff from the dancing and moshing going on, but she still looked fantastic.We both bought the same tour t-shirt, which she put on over a t-shirt with the Abbey Road Beatles album cover, (my second favorite Beatles album after Rubber Soul), and she had green ear plugs, Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars (my favorite shoes), and jeans. She looked over at me and smiled one of the prettiest smiles I have received from a girl in a long while now. It wasn't just a normal smile, though. It was like we looked at each other, smiled, and something clicked. Coheed starts playing again and she starts dancing super fun and crazy and looks at me, and by that time, I was under a spell. I couldn't help but jump and dance around with her. We were singing all of the words to the songs together. She smiled, got in front of me, while dancing and kept looking back over her shoulder at me. We shared this dance together. I was completely unaware of my surroundings by this point. One of my all time favorite bands is up playing some of their best music, and I was lost.
The song ends, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and behind me is a guy...matching green ear plugs. He reaches over, and pulls her back by his side, glaring at me with fire in his eyes. I had no idea, of course. He took her back a couple rows of people and with the craziness of the show coming back into picture, I turned around, rocked hard, but didn't see her again.
I always loved the song 'You're Beautiful" by James Blunt, (listen and or download the radio edit, by the way, he says the F word in the regular album version which sucks because it doesn't fit the song, like, at all.) I never felt the weight of the song until tonight. Anyway, I can't remember the last time I connected with someone like that. I never learned her name....nothing. Forever in my mind, she is going to be called "The Coheed Girl", and when I hear their song 2's My Favorite 1 by Coheed, she is the girl I am always going to think of.
They say "It's better to have love and lost than to have loved at all". I never knew that in the right setting in the right way, you can fall in love and lose it just as fast. Tonight the new girl of my dreams is somewhere in the Salt Lake Valley being taken home and kissed goodnight by someone who isn't me. It's a safe bet to say that I will never see her again, but my heart, though a little broken, is a little happier for having that moment.
I don't think I will ever forget you, Coheed girl, and even though you will never see this, and let alone know it is about you, I wish you love and happiness wherever you are and whoever you are with. Thank you for the gift of your warm smile and the dance/rock-out we had. It proved to me that the magic of love is still out there, and that in the right circumstances can still find me.
To end I will quote a line from Coheed and Cambria's song 2's My Favorite 1 about my Coheed Girl, "Cross towards the dance floor and together we will show them who's boss".
Monday, September 1, 2014
My Football Movie Checklist....
It's
that time of year again and I am excited. American Football is upon us.
I am more partial to NCAA football than I am the NFL, but
I love watching both. Since the first week in September hardly has any
new movies coming out due to the summer season ending, I thought I would
make up a checklist of movies about football. All of the films I name
are either available through the Salt Lake County Library on available
on Netflix if you have a subscription to Netflix. Let's get started...
Rudy Rated: PG
for language and mild violence
Rudy
is about a young man who loves football and dreams of playing for Notre
Dame. However he is very small, and in order to play for Notre Dame, he
also needs to be a student. The film follows the struggles and triumphs
that Rudy has to go through. This is one of my all time favorite movies
about football. It's very inspiring and has a very pretty soundtrack.
Rudy is
directed by David Anspaugh and written by Angelo Pizzo who are the same
team that brought us the very awesome movie, Hoosiers. Rudy is based
on a true story.
Remember the Titans Rated: PG for mild violence and racial themes
Remember
the Titans is also based on a true story. It is about a newly
integrated high school football team that struggles with the issues of
race. The whole town is upset with the hiring of coach Herman Boone, an
African American coach. Everything seems to fall apart, the members of
the team are at each others throats about race and losing certain
players to make the best team possible and the towns people are
threatening and trying to coax the new football coach out of his job.
However, with a strong attitude, both
mentally and physically, things start to turn around.
Friday Night Lights Rated: PG-13 for language, violence, teen partying and alcohol and drug use
Staying
to the track of films that were brought about by a true story, Friday
Night Lights is probably the most realistic since it follows the book of
the same name very well. A reporter from New York heard about how crazy
Texans like high school football. He moved to Odessa, Texas where he
witnessed the whole season of the Permian High Panthers. The players
were treated like royalty. They had cheerleaders and pep squad girls
that would follow a player around and wait on them hand and foot. The
town is in an uproar when the newly appointed coach loses a game to
start off the season. Can they make it to the
champions ship game, or not. There was also a TV show that was called
Friday Night Lights, and it was the exact same thing, except with a
fictional town, but still set in Texas. The show ran for five seasons.
It was a great show. I believe it is still on Netflix. It does a great
job and keeping the same intensity from the town as the original story
did.
The Blind Side Rated: PG-13 for one scene of violence, drug and sexual references
Brian's Song Rated: G Contains some racial themes
I am sensing a pattern here. Brian's Song is a true story about a football player named Brian Piccolo and his relationship with his friend, Gale Sayers. Piccolo and Sayers were the first players in the NFL who were assigned to be roommates where one was white and the other African American. Their relationship grows into a strong bond of friendship, but that isn't the only thing that is growing. Brian Piccolo develops cancer and fights through it with Gale Sayers. This one is one of my all-time favorite movies about football. There are actually two versions of Brian's Song. The one I am referring to is the 1971 version with James Caan and Billie Dee Williams.
A Triumph of the Heart: The Ricky Bell Story Not Rated, but most likely a G or very low PG rating. Thematic Issues.
If Brian's Song doesn't succeed at tugging your heart strings, this one will. Another true story, Ricky Bell, a pro football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with an education in speech therapy is assigned to visit and work with a boy by the name of Ryan Blankenship who has some handicaps. Ryan's family works at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium, which makes Ryan even more excited to meet Ricky Bell, since he is Ryan's favorite player. They end up forming a bond to each other. Ricky starts spending time with Ryan's family and uses his teammates to do things to help Ryan out. However, when Ricky Bell gets traded to the San Diego Chargers, things start to get more complicated, Ricky Bell who Ryan looked up to so much, turns the tables and it is Ryan who Ricky Bell looks up to for courage and strength. This was a made for TV movie, but it is my favorite movie dealing with football. It is available on Netflix, or if you look it up on the Internet Movie Data Base, imdb.com, and it will let you stream the film from there, so it is completely free if you have an internet connection. Remember to have a box of tissues handy for this one. I have seen it quite a few times, and no matter how hard I try, I can't up but tear up.
Invincible Rated: PG for sports action and some language
This is the true story, surprise surprise, of Vince Papale, who is a 30 year old bartender in Philadelphia who goes to open tryouts for the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team and against all odds, ends up making the team. Mark Wahlberg plays Vince, Greg Kinnear plays Coach Dick Vermeil, and Elizabeth Banks plays Janet Cantrell who plays Vince's love interest.
We Are Marshall Rated: PG for thematic elements and some language and brief violence
We Are Marshall is yet again another true story about the Marshall University football team who loses quite a few players and fans due to a plane crash. The story follows Coach Jack Lengyel and his remaining player and their struggles to keep the football program alive for the rest of the season. Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox are great in their roles as the coaches for Marshall. I enjoyed this one quite a bit.
The Freshman Not Rated as it was released in 1925 Nothing Offensive.
Finally a film about football that isn't a true story. The Freshman is my favorite silent film. It start Harold Lloyd as a young man heading off to college. He has dreams of becoming the best man on campus, but his quirks and awkwardness get in the way in a hilarious way. He wants to be captain of the football team, even though he is super scrawny, just so that he can copy other student's paths at becoming popular. What he doesn't know and realize is that the boarding house he is staying at is being ran by a girl and her mother. The girl falls in love with Harold Lloyd and is secretly cheering him on, while at the same time loving him for who he is and not his status. He makes the team as a tackling dummy, but in the final, most important game of the season, injuries start to mount up and in order to not forfeit , the coach reluctantly sends Harold out to play. The results are hilarious, but also follow the real football rules at the time. This film is absolutely a joy to watch. All of the comedy and word play are still popular today. This has my favorite silent film caption. The title card reads: Tate University - A large football stadium, with a college attached. Sounds like schools from the Big Ten conference today.
When the Game Stands Tall Rated: PG for football action.
I reviewed this film last week. Just a quick recap, a true story, a high school football team has the longest winning streak in all of football history. They come into a season and loose two games, but are determined to beat a team who is next to impossible to beat. They work hard to get to the game and even make it to the state championship. There are lots of motivational speeches in this film. Maybe a few too many, but the heart is there. There isn't one swear word to be heard. It makes a great family film. It is in theaters right now.
Well that just about wraps it up for this checklist. Here are a few other films that I didn't go into detail about that you might enjoy.
The Waterboy, The Longest Yard (the 2005 version), The Express, Necessary Roughness, and Jerry Maguire,
I hope this article has been fun to read and I hope that I have inspired you to watch a few of these films.
If you have other football movies that you like and enjoy, be sure to let me know via the comments or email.
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